Where Should the Ketubah Be Kept?

Greetings, It is customary in all Sephardic communities, as well as in some Ashkenazic communities, that the bride does not keep the ketubah in her home but gives it to her mother or a close relative for safekeeping. However, some Ashkenazic communities have the custom of keeping the ketubah in the couple's home. Sources: The foundation of this matter is explained in the responsa of the Rashbash (Siman 72), who wrote that it is not proper for the woman's ketubah to be in her husband's possession, since the entire purpose of the ketubah is to ensure that it not be lightly set aside by him. If the ketubah is in the husband's possession, should he become angry, he might tear it up, making it easy for him to dismiss her without consequence. Similarly, the Knesset HaGedolah on Even HaEzer (Siman 66, glossed in the Tur, note 8) writes that the ketubah should not be given into the groom's hand but rather kept by the bride or her relatives, as established in the custom throughout Israel. Rabbi Moshe Kapsali z"l in Kandia also instituted this, which is the simple custom in all Israel. Likewise, in Sefer Yad Aharon (Even HaEzer gloss on the Tur, note 12) based on the Rashbash's ruling, the ketubah should be kept by the bride or her relatives, not the groom. This is the straightforward custom in all of Israel. In Sefer Erekh HaShulchan (Even HaEzer, Siman 66, note 4), the Rashbash's ruling is cited as halacha. Yalkut Yosef - Chuppah and Kiddushin (Chapter 9, Section 25) states that the ketubah should be given to the mother of the bride or one of her relatives, who keep it in their home, and not in the home of the groom and bride. Regarding Ashkenazic custom: In Shulchan HaAzer, Part 2 (page 46a) it is written that in Jerusalem the custom is to give the ketubah to the bride's father or relatives. Similarly, in Biyur Halacha, Part 5 (page 223), Rabbi Moshe Steinberger shlita cites several Gedolei Torah from old Jerusalem who say that the bride's father kept the ketubah during his lifetime. In Peninei Nisuin (page 83), it is heard from Rabbi Auerbach shlita that the custom in the home of Rabbi Yitzchak Elishiv zt"l, by his instruction, was that the ketubah not remain in the couple's home, but in the bride's parents' home. If the ketubah is in the couple's home, it is considered easy for the husband to divorce, since he can tear it at any time. It is also mentioned that Rabbi Elishiv's ketubah was kept all those years at his father-in-law Rabbi Aryeh Levin zt"l's home. It was also heard from Rabbi Elishiv that if the woman hides the ketubah at home so that the husband cannot find it, it is considered as money. See also Mishpat HaKetubah Part 7 (page 74) in the name of Rabbi Elyashiv zt"l who practiced similarly and that this is the custom. However, this is not a universally established custom among Ashkenazim. The responsa Igrot Moshe, Even HaEzer, Part 3 (Siman 26) writes concerning the place where the ketubah should be: the ketubah should preferably be kept with the woman in a place where she safeguards her possessions, since it is a document belonging to the husband. If she trusts the husband to keep it for her and to give it to her whenever she requests, even if divorce should ever arise due to quarrels, she can entrust it to him. The responsa further states that the woman does not accept this custom to give the ketubah to her relatives. Also see Mishnah Halachos, Part 9 (Siman 270), who disagrees with Igrot Moshe and maintains that the woman need not keep the ketubah among her possessions, but may keep it in a place from which her husband may take it. This shows that she also does not accept the custom to keep the ketubah with the bride's relatives. In Sefer Minchah L'Chaim (Siman 15, note 23), Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky shlita is asked about the differing customs regarding where the ketubah is kept after marriage (with the bride's parents, in the home of the couple, etc.). He replied, "As you wish." Blessings, Hillel Meirs